"Nick know you really don't know how to drive in this weather. Please just stay here until the storm passes,'' Kevin asked as he watched his friend push away from the kitchen table.

Nick grinned as he looked at the older man and joked, "Dad, I know how to drive; believe it or not I've driven in snow quite a few times since you last saw me."  As a dark look suddenly washed over Kevin Richardson's face, Nick quickly decided that he may have crossed the sacred boundaries. 'I think I pissed him off for some reason. Was it because I called him Dad?' he wondered.

The older man shook his head slowly. "I just don't have a good feeling about this; call me crazy if you want to but I honestly don't want you out on the roads tonight."

Nick waved him off as he pulled his jacket on. "You worry too much, I'll be fine."

"I don't care what time it is when you get home, could you at least call me?"

After Kevin made sure he still had his cell number in his contacts, Nick started the long drive back to Tennessee. Two hours into the drive, he found himself literally the only car on the highway.  

"Okay, maybe I should have waited until Tuesday," Nick muttered out loud as he tried to block out the feelings of anxiety that were slowly starting to creep in.

For some reason he felt invincible and was driving faster than the posted speed limit of 70 m.p.h - he never did follow those laws; always felt it was more of a suggestion rather than a law but the sudden eerie feeling that the tires were no longer on the pavement was instantly verified when the back end of the vehicle started to swing away from the side of the road.

Nick tried his best to fight the spin that the car was being thrown into but because of his lack of experience driving in bad conditions coupled with the coating of black ice that was on the interstate, there was no hope in ever pulling out.

Spinning faster than a NASCAR crash, the car bounced against the guard rail three times before going down a steep ditch 40 feet off the highway. Mercifully it was stopped from a roll over when it landed hard on the driver's side against a tree.

"Hey! The car's down here!"

Shaking his head in disbelief as he shown the flood light down the steep ravine he muttered to his partner. "I had a feeling this wasn't going to be a quick rescue...."  Pulling himself back to professionalism, Andrew quickly shouted, "Grab the jaws."

"We don't know how many victims are in there or if anyone is alive!"

"Just grab the shit Steve, alright? It doesn't matter if anyone is dead cause we'd have to open the fucking thing for the police." Andrew snapped over his shoulder as he stumbled down the hill toward the car.

Once Andrew made it down the hill, he shone his flashlight through the passenger window, seeing a male victim slumped over the steering wheel. It was hard to determine that if the man was still alive but as far as he could see, this was the only passenger in the car. Trying the passenger door, he was relieved that he was able to open it but with the car, resting at a 45-degree angle it was awkward to enter the car without assistance.

"Holy shit," Steve muttered as he got to the car.

"Holy shit is right," Andrew agreed.

"So is the guy alive?"

"I don't know, help me with this goddamn door and I'll let you know."

With difficulty, Andrew was able to hop into the car and slid into the passenger seat, carefully pressing a gloved finger onto the side of the victim's neck. "Get the immobilizer and back board. Hopefully those sons of bitches from the fire department show up by the time you get up to the ambulance."

"The weather is really bad, I'm sure they'll be here as soon as-----"

Andrew cut his partner off, "No shit Sherlock, we drove in this!" He was quick to add as he looked at his patient, "No one should have been out in this shit."

The call that Kevin had waited from by Nick never came; instead, he found himself driving out into the winter storm that he had begged the younger man to wait out.

The call came from someone that only said that he had been listed as an emergency contact for Nickolas Carter and that he was at Overlook Medical Center in Summit, New Jersey.

The woman's voice that called him keep repeating over and over in his brain. 'He's alive, that's all I know...'

"Can't you tell me what's happened, how he is?"

"You just have to get here as soon as possible."

At that point all Kevin did was grab his jacket and hurry out the door. He did not take the time to call anyone; he was hoping that when he got to the hospital, Nick would be okay.

Kevin drove as fast as the conditions would allow. The high way was abandoned; clearly most people decided that the weather was not good for safe travel. He wished Nick had listened to his advice and now here he was, driving downstate to an unfamiliar place.

Pulling into the emergency parking lot, Kevin let out a heavy sigh. Wasting little time, he ran toward the entrance.

"Nick Carter?"

The clerk looked up.

"Nick Carter?" Kevin repeated.

The woman only stared back at Kevin.

"Someone called and said that he's in the emergency room."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

When the woman replied, Kevin's heart immediately sank.

"I wasn't sure what you were looking for, as in if he was admitted or what," she smiled. The relief that she thought she was giving wasn't relayed when she saw that his face was drained of color. "I'm sorry about that," she quickly restated. "He's here. I have to check to see if you can go back to him.  Just have a seat over there and someone will be out to talk to you."

Kevin barely sat down when a man in scrubs approached him.

"You're here for Mr. Carter?"

Kevin quickly stood up, eyeing the man warily. "Yes."

"He's stable for now; you can follow me back to see him."

Once they passed through a set of heavy double doors did the man speak. "He's stable but we're waiting his blood pressure to stabilize a bit before we take him into surgery."

"Surgery?"

"He has multiple injuries but the surgeon wants to stabilize the most serious ones for now."

"Most serious?  I haven't---"

"I'm sorry; I'm guessing no one has said anything about Nick to you yet?"

"No."

"I'll have the trauma surgeon discuss everything with you before anything is started. Nick's in here," the man gestured toward a large doorway.

Nothing prepared Kevin for the sight he was going to witness, his knees buckled; fortunately the other man was beside him and was able to stop the Kentuckian before he fell to the floor.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concern etched on his face.

Kevin swallowed hard as he looked at his young brother hooked up to machines and tubes.

"Yeah," he breathed.

"I'll pull the chair to the side of the bed, you can sit. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah," Kevin repeated quietly.

"You can take his hand it's okay I'll be back."

Scooping the young man's hand, Kevin was shocked at how cold it felt. Tears immediately pooled in his eyes; blurring his vision. "God Nick why didn't you stay back? Why didn't you listen to me?"

Sitting in the surgical lounge waiting room, Kevin Richardson never felt more lost in his life as he did at that moment. His 'little brother' had been rushed off to emergency surgery without any explanations about what was happening or what they were going to be doing to Nick. The promise of Kevin speaking with the trauma surgeon was quickly dismissed as he we led off to the waiting area.

Glancing at his watch, it indicated it was 4 a.m. and as much as Kevin wanted to call his cousin or any of the other men that were considered his brothers, he immediately decided against it. He had nothing to offer if he called; it would only create more worries.

Running a hand through his hair in a defeated gesture, the older man sighed. Nick had been in surgery a little over an hour and a half and still no answers.

"What the hell is taking so long?" Kevin muttered quietly. The sudden ring from the phone at the information desk drew his attention.

"Carter?" a woman said as she looked around the lobby after she answered the phone.

Kevin jumped up from his seat. "Yes, I'm here for Nick Carter," he said as he quickly strode up to the desk. The woman nodded affirmatively, holding her hand up as she returned her attention to the phone.

"Room two," she said after ending the call.

 Kevin looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"Room two," she repeated as she pointed to a door marked Consult 2 in small letters. "The doctor will talk to you," she clarified.

Walking into the small, dimly lit room, Kevin took a seat and waited anxiously for the physician to enter the room. As he waited, memories of the previous night flooded his mind. He balled his fists in frustration as he remembered how adamant Nick was when he had begged him to stay and wait the snowstorm out before heading back home.

His vision started to blur as tears pooled in his eyes. He shook his head in grief, wishing that perhaps he should have called one of the guys to help shoulder the burden. Just as he had leaned forward to cradle his head in his hands, the door on the opposite side of the room slid open. Kevin looked up to see a tired looking older man dressed in surgical scrubs, enter.

As the doctor sat down, Kevin sized the man up. He noticed the laminate I.D. that had a smiling picture of the physician with his name and credentials underneath.

"Doctor Schneider," the man paused as he held his hand out.

"Kevin Richardson," Kevin replied as he shook the man's hand.

"I was called in by Dr. Stuart for Mr. Carter's care because of the injuries he received in the car accident.  The physician sighed before he continued. "He has multiple injuries and he currently is in critical condition.  I was called in stabilize a pelvic fracture."

Kevin swallowed hard as he processed the doctor's words. "Nick's going to be okay, isn't he?"

Dr. Schneider shook his head. "I cannot tell you at this point. Nick has not been conscious so no one has been able to fully assess him. I will tell you that I ordered a high dose of methylprednisolone which aids in spinal cord injuries----"

Kevin cut the doctor off, "I thought you just said you don't know how---"

"I said we cannot tell you how Nick is right now but what I can tell you that he has some serious injuries. He has a pelvic fracture and a dislocated thoracic vertebrae which could lead to possible spinal cord injuries. I am giving him the steroids to hopefully prevent additional permanent damage to the cord. Once Nick is awake and we can determine possible injuries to his spine, and then we will be able to treat him. Do you have questions?"

His body instantly going numb, Kevin stared at the doctor; his shock-filled mind blank.

"They will let you know when Nick has been taken up to a room in Neuro ICU."

It wasn't until the doctor left the room that Kevin pulled his cell phone out of his pants pocket with shaking fingers and dialed the familiar numbers that would reach his cousin.

Being directed to stop at the nurse's station on the seventh floor, Brian Littrell looked at the young man that was seated in front of a computer. "Um, could you help me please, I'm not sure if this is the right place....."
The man's eyes narrowed as he looked up at the Kentuckian.

"I'm looking for Nick Carter."

"Oh." The man stood up and walked around the desk toward Brian. "No one has been allowed into see him yet," he quietly stated. "Follow me; I'll show you where you can wait. Once he's ready to have someone come into his room, we'll come down and let you know okay?"

Brian could only nod his response as he glanced into a room as he passed by, wondering if it would be his best friend's room.

"I think there is another person in there waiting," the man said as he gestured to the doorway of the waiting room.

"Oh God, Kevin!"

"Hey!" Kevin rushed up to his cousin and quickly wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug, finally allowing himself to cry into Brian's shoulder.

Feeling the normally stoic Kevin Richardson convulse into sobs as he held him, Brian felt his heart drop. This was not a good indicator of what was happening with his best friend. In what seemed like an eternity to Brian, Kevin finally pulled himself away.par

"Let's go sit down," he mumbled.

Wordlessly, Brian followed his cousin to the first row of padded seats that faced the doorway. He looked at Kevin with a worried expression, afraid to ask the question that was on his mind.

"Coffee's over there," Kevin gestured with his thumb toward the station against the wall.

Brian stood up and made his way over. "Would you like me to get you some?"

Kevin shook his head. "No thanks, my stomach is starting to bother me. I've drank so much coffee I think I'm getting an ulcer," he quietly replied as he started to lean forward, putting his head into his hands.

After a few moments Kevin cried, "God, Nicky should have listened to me....he should have listened to me....."

Brian rubbed his cousin's back. "Don't blame yourself."

"We wouldn't be here...."

"Do you know what happened?

Rubbing his hand over his face, Kevin gathered his thoughts. "They said Nick's car hit some ice and spun out...."

Brian put a hand to his mouth as he gasped.

"He spun out and his car went down a ditch and hit a tree," Kevin continued in a shaky voice. "The car hit on the driver's side and they said Nicky was pinned in the car."

Brian put a hand to his mouth as he gasped. "Oh my god."

Kevin shook his head and looked at his cousin with watery eyes. "Nick's body is so broken up I don't know if they can fix him...."

"Please don't say that...."

Kevin shook his head, dismissing Brian's plea.  "It's true...."

"What are his injuries that you would say something like this?"

"The doctor told me that Nick broke his pelvis and something about a vertebra or something being dislocated and that he has some spine injuries."

"I pray to God that you're not right," Brian whispered.

*****

It wasn't until after an hour had passed that a nurse dressed in teal  scrubs approached Brian and Kevin in the waiting room. Both looked at the woman with weary eyes.

"They have Mr. Carter stablized for now. Would you like to go this his room?" the nurse asked.

Brian quickly stood up along with Kevin; a mixture of anxiety and dread filled their hearts. "So can we both go in at the same time?" Kevin questioned.

The nurse gave Kevin a tight smile. "Well, typically we would only allow one person in the patient's ICU room at a time but I think that is a silly rule and no one seems to follow it. You can both go in but be advised you may be asked to leave."

Both men nodded their heads to assert their cooperation with the nurse. Wordlessly, they followed the young nurse down the hall past brightly lit patient rooms. Kevin kept his focused to the woman leading them to the room; Brian stole a sideways glance into one room, instantly regretting what he saw.

'Nicky won't be like that.' he mentally shuddered.

Finally, the nurse crossed the doorway into the ICU room where Nick was.

"You can pull chairs up to the side of his bed." Seeing the look on Brian's face she quickly added, "I know that the amount equipment and IV bags are probably overwhelming, but this is standard protocol for most ICU patients."

Instead of entering further into the room the two men simply stood in the doorway, unsure of what to do while the nurse busied herself with adjusting one of the IV machines. Kevin's face paled as he looked at his baby brother.

As she was starting to turn around to leave the room the nurse started to say, "My name is Jen..." She stopped in midsentence when she saw Kevin's ghostly white complexion. Quickly, she grabbed a hard plastic chair and took Kevin's arm, resting a hand on his elbow without missing a beat. "Sit down hun...."

This jerked Brian out of his stupor. "Kev are you alright?"

Dragging his palm across his face in a defeated gesture, Kevin sighed; he immediately felt embarrassed. "Ah....um, yeah I'm fine."

Brian looked at him with uncertainty, "You're as white as a sheet, are you gonna fa---"

"I said I'm fine!" he sharply hissed.

Because of the sudden display of temper it was the nurse that suddenly felt embarrassed. She cleared her throat to regain her composure. "Well as I starting to tell you, my name is Jenny. Let me know if you need anything." She tossed a look over to Brian as she passed him on her way out of the room. "Anything." she added with a whisper as she kept walking out the door.

Kevin gingerly laid a hand ontop of Nick's bruised hand that was laying beside his body. "Why didn't you just stay back at the house?" he choked out with a sob.

Brian laid a comforting hand ontop of his cousin's shoulder, tears pooling in his eyes as he looked down at Nick's scraped face.

"You said you had all of this under control, God why did't I tell you to stay put..."

"Kev, stop blaming yourself," Brian soothed. "You had no idea this would---"

"Don't!" the older man snapped. "Don't you dare make excuses and tell me this wasn't my fault! he continued harshly. "I'm supposed to be responsible for Nicky---"

"Yeah, maybe that was back when he was fourteen!" Brian countered, echoing his cousin's tone.

Instead of countering Brian's words, Kevin simply shook his head in a defeated gesture.

"God Bri, I'm sorry I snapped at you; this is...is just all so surreal," the older man quietly studdered.

Glancing down at Nick's swollen face, Brian lightly squeezed Kevin's shoulder. His throat constricted as he swallowed the lump that was in his throat.

"Do you think one of us should call Nick's family?"

Kevin's head snapped up. "God no!....I mean, we should wait until we know more, besides the weather isn't really that good for anyone to be out. I'm glad you came up, but I'm also not happy you came."

Brian tried to reason with his cousin. "But don't you think that's being unfair to his parents?"

"Normal parents I would say yes but we're talking Nick's family. Do you really want them here causing more problems?"

"I guess you're right."

Leaning forward, Kevin lightly stroked Nick's face with the back of his fingers in a fatherly gesture. "Hopefully he wakes up soon so we know more of what has happened to him....."